Carbon capture in the species Tillandsia werdermannii and Tillandsia purpurea in the arrojadero hills located between the districts of Inclan and Locumba, Tacna

Abstract

The purpose of the research was to calculate the carbon sequestration of the plant species Tillandsia werdermannii and Tillandsia purpurea always alive located in the Arrojadero Hills in the districts of Inclán and Locumba, Tacna. For this, the amount of organic carbon present in the plant tissue and the amount of living biomass and necromass stored in the Tillandsial were determined. A total of 12 plots of 2 m x 2 m were taken, bearing. The amount of organic carbon was obtained using the Schollenberger oxidation method. The plant species with the highest content of organic carbon in its plant tissue was Tillandsia werdermannii with 39.79% followed by Tillandsia purpurea with 35.35%. The Tillandsia werdermannii species stored the highest amount of carbon in its plant biomass with 1.78 t C / ha and Tillandsia purpurea was the species that stored the least amount of carbon with 1.66 t C / ha. The species Tillandsia werdermannii obtained 136.45 kg DM / 4m2 as weight of dry matter in living biomass and necromass, while Tillandsia purpurea obtained 133.64 kg DM / 4m2. Therefore, the Tillandsia located in the “Arrojadero Hills” referring to the total amount of living biomass and necromass accumulated in the species was 56.27 tn DM and the total amount of carbon stored in the living biomass and necromass was 25.15 tn C, which represents an estimated total sequestration of 92.30 tons of CO2.